The French Ministry for the Environment has spectacularly broken ranks with the Ministry of Agriculture by publishing its own vision ‘For a sustainable agricultural policy in 2013’. The 17-page document does not beat about the bush: it calls for a radical overhaul and gives numbers.

In late 2009, leading agricultural economists from all over Europe issued a declaration on ‘A Common Agricultural Policy for European Public Goods’. They proposed the abolition of market intervention and blanket income support to farmers, and outlined a more efficient, greener CAP.

Berkeley Hill, Professor Emeritus of Policy Analysis at the University of London, discusses four exit strategies: simple expiration of the SFP in 2013, replacement by a transitory income support scheme, additional rural development measures to promote restructuring, and a bond scheme.